"I wanted to challenge myself and make sure I took the most rigorous courses available," said the 18-year-old who will graduate next month with eight Advanced Placement courses on her transcript.

If they had fit into her schedule, she would have taken more.

David O'Hara, 17, a senior at Fairfield Warde High School, has taken seven AP courses, not for college credits but for the challenge. "The most challenging level is AP," he said shrugging in a matter-of-fact way.

In Bridgeport, Katelyn Rivera, 17, a student at Central Magnet School, has taken eight AP courses, one sophomore year, two junior year and five this year. "I did it mostly for the background," said Rivera, who plans to major in pre-med.

For all of the talk today about slipping academic standards and students who enter college unprepared, there are the Sarahs and Davids and Katelyns in every school

Nationwide, as participation in AP courses grows, so do the number of students who can't seem to get enough of them. From 2007 to 2010, the number of students nationwide taking three exams during high school tripled from 89,093 to 230,570 and the number taking five tests tripled, from 28,762 to 84,314. In Connecticut, out of 25,646 public and private students taking AP exams between 2007 and 2010, nearly 14 percent took three or more tests.

More Information

Number of students taking AP tests nationwide from 2007 to 2010:
Those taking taking three exams during high school tripled from 89,093 to 230,570
Those taking five exams tripled from 28,762 to 84,314.
The number taking seven exams has gone from 9,741 to 33,237
Number of students taking AP tests in Connecticut
Out of 25,646 public and private students taking AP exams between 2007 and 2010, nearly 14 percent took three or more tests; five percent, or 1,318 took five tests; 151 students took nine tests and one student took 15.
Connecticut districts with among the highest number of test takers in 2010:
West Hartford: 903
Stamford: 664
Greenwich:574
Fairfield: 542
New Haven:528.

Many colleges will give course credit if a student scores a three or higher on the exam, which will be given this week. But is it helpful to students to be taking their course load with an increasing number of AP classes?

Brian Usher, interim director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Connecticut, said students who take a rigorous program certainly stand out, but only to the degree they can perform at a high level. If they take a lot and aren't successful, it will backfire on them.

"We want students to stretch and take the strongest program possible that they can compete in," said Usher. "Not everyone is equipped to take five AP's in a single year. There are some kids who can balance AP along with all the other attributes of being a high school senior and perform well. That's great. Most need to find a balance."

FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE

Kimberley Coelho-Vera, a guidance counselor at East Side High School in Newark, N.J., said, at best, students who take more AP classes than they can handle miss out on having fun. At worst, they will crack under the pressure. She has one student, destined to be valedictorian, who is determined to take five AP classes next year while holding down a part-time job and running track.

"I don't want her to have a nervous breakdown," said Coelho-Vera.

She is trying to convince the student to build at least one study hall into her schedule.

When Rivera, of Central Magnet, filled her schedule with five AP courses this year she said her guidance counselor made sure she had two study halls.

Janet Rosier, a college admissions consultant, said it's not quantity but quality that matters. A student who takes a lot of AP classes and does not get good grades, or who spends so much time studying and has no other activities, can hurt his chances in admissions, she said.

"The colleges want students who have challenged themselves academically, and nothing says `the most rigorous curriculum your high school offers' like AP and (International Baccalaureate) classes," she said. "But, in addition to this, colleges also want to see students who have been involved in extracurricular activities and displayed leadership. Having one part of this equation to the exclusion of the other part is not helpful."

SCHOOLS EXPANDING AP OFFERINGS

Ken Firmender, director of guidance and AP coordinator for Ansonia Public Schools, said there was a deliberate push to add AP courses to change the culture of Ansonia High School. Using grant money, Ansonia developed more AP courses, sent teachers to training, and convinced more students to try them. Ansonia went from one course and 29 students two years ago to 11 courses with 146 students this year. Starting Monday, those students sit down to 270 AP tests.

Now the district is working to boost scores. When its participation increased, passing scores in Ansonia went down.

In Trumbull, participation rose without an appreciable decrease in scores. In 2010, 18 AP courses were offered with 395 students. Registration for next year suggests participation will be even higher, school officials said.

In Shelton, participation is up and scores are holding steady, with 70 percent of Shelton test takers scoring a three or better. Kathy Riddle, Shelton's AP coordinator, said Shelton High began using a program tied to the PSAT's that predicted which sophomores and juniors would likely to score well on AP. Those students were encouraged by their guidance counselor to take AP courses. "Students who deserve and want to be challenged are able to do so," said Riddle.

In Fairfield, which along with Trumbull has the highest percentage of students who pass the AP exams in the state at 87.8 percent, John Dasher, a teacher at Fairfield Warde High School has two sections of AP U.S. History back to back. There are 300 juniors at the school and 80 take AP U.S. History. Dasher has been teaching the course five years and has it down to a science. "I love telling the American story ... It's a great story," said Dasher.

TEACHER `BARELY INVOLVED'

For students who take multiple AP courses, it's often the rigor that motivates them. For others, it's the atmosphere. In Jim Reilly's AP U.S. History class at Central High School, no one is texting in the back of the classroom, and sometimes it's hard for him to get a word in edgewise, let alone lecture.

"In Mr. Reilly's class it's not just power points," said Daniela Aguila, 17, a Central senior. "We learn how to analyze documents. Why did this event happen? What led up to it? He makes you want to listen to what he has to say. That class made me realize how much I love history."

Nessad Choudhury, 17, a Central senior, said it's not just in AP history that he is learning more.

"In AP English, instead of learning Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, we delve into the actual words he uses. We analyze. When we read the Legends of Huckleberry Finn and had to write our own journal entries from the point of view of a character n the book," he said.

Students in other schools describe similar classroom experiences.

"Today, in English, we were reading Hamlet and had a big debate about revenge and if you are more for eye for an eye or turning the other cheek. We got into tangents. The teacher was barely involved in the conversation at all," said Max Gottschall, a senior at Trumbull High, who in other classes sometimes feels like the only one responding to the teacher. In Trumbull, 90.7 percent of students taking AP exams pass with a three or higher.

Kelli Freer, 17, of Shelton High, who is taking four AP courses this year after taking three last year, called it fast-paced and challenging.

"The material is more complex," she said. "And you are expected to understand it."

Contact Linda Lambeck at 203-330-6218 or lclambeck@ctpost.com. Follow her at twitter.com/lclambeck